Method for fabricating welded wire fabric



. Sept. 7, 1948. 4 'r. H. WICKWIRE, JR 2,443,941

I IB'HIOD FOR FABRICA'IING IBLDED IIRE FABRIC Original; Filed Jung 1a, 1943 3 Shoots-Sheet 1 I so i -o o o o Mrmms "r. H. WICKWIRE, JR 2,448,941

I IB'I'EOD FOR FABRICATING IELDBD IIRE FABRIC imam Filed June 18. 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 n slqron 2%. La/1170mm? Sept. 7, 1948. 12-1-1. WICKWIRE, JR

M maon FOR PABBIGATING IILDID In IABRIC Original Filed June 18; 1943 3 Shuts-Sheet 3 Patented Sept. 7, 1948 METHOD FOR FABRICATING WELDED wmr: FABRIC Theodore Harry Wickwire, Jr., Ardmore, Pa., as-

signor to Theodore H. Wickwire, Jr., Sophie H. Wickwire, Roma A. Wickwire, and Hedge Wickwire, co-partners doing business as Theowick Company, Philadelphia, Pa.

Original application June 18, 1943, Serial No.

491,270, now Patent No. 2,410,766, dated November. 5, 1946.

Divided and this application June 25, 1945,.Serial No. 601,400

4 Claims. 1

This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 491,270 filed June 18, 1943, which has matured into Patent No. 2,410,766, granted November 5, 1946.

My invention relates to an'improved method for fabricating welded wire fabric.

Heretofore it has been necessary to interrupt the feeding of the fabric during the actual welding of the transverse wires to the longitudinal strands. One of the objects of my invention is to make it possible to use a continuous feed of the fabric, the welding being performed between rotating welding wheels.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved feeding arrangement for bringing the transverse wires into position for welding, the arrangement being such that the spacing between the transverse wires may be varied in order to produce a fabric of desired mesh.

A still further object of my invention is to make it possible to employ a, single electric transformer for furnishing the current necessary for welding the transverse wires to a plurality of strands. Heretofore, it has been necessary to provide a separate transformer for each strand due to the fact that the welds between the transverse wire and the strands have been made simultaneously and, if the welding points had been connected in parallel across the leads of a single transformer, here would have been an unequal distribution of current between the different welds due to the impossibility of avoiding diflerent resistances. In accordance with one embodiment of my invention the welds between a single transverse wire and a plurality of longitudinal strands may be made successively, whereby the entire output of the transformer is employed for each weld.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and of which:

Fig; 1 is a front view, partially in cross-section, of an apparatus in accordance with my invention, certain driving elements having been omitted for the sake of simplicity;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, the above referred to driving elements being shown;

Fig. 3 is a top view on an enlarged scale of a portion of theapparatus illustrated in the preceding figures; and i top view of another embodiment of 2 Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 through 3, reference character l0 designates a'rotatably mounted shaft to which is secured a feeding drum comprising a plurality of axially spaced wheels I2. Each wheel carries a plurality of magnets l4, which may be either permanent or electro-magnets. The radailly outer end of each magnet is formed with a projecting portion 13 which extends slightly beyond the periphery of the wheel, forming a shoulder on the forward edge of the projection, the wheel rotating in a counter-clockwise direction as indicated by the arrow 18. Suitably supported above the wheel I2 is a feed hopper 29 having an inclined bottom 22 which is adapted to retain a supply of transverse wires. One or more transverse plates 23 are disposed lengthwise in the lower end of hopper 20. Each plate has a lower edge 24 which is parallel to and spaced from the inclined bottom 22 a distance slightly greater than the diameter of the transverse wires, which assures that the wire lies in a single layer. At a similar distance beyond the lower edge of bottom 22 each plate is formed with a shoulder 25. A rotatably mounted-shaft 26 carries a plurality of transfer wheels 21, each wheel being formed with a plurality of notches 28 in its periphery. As clearly shown in Fig. 3, the several wheels are fixed to shaft 23 so that the notches 28 are progressively staggered. Shaft 26 is so located that the clearance between the peripheries of wheels 21 and the lower edges of bottom 22 and shoulder 25' is I less than the diameter of a transverse wire. The

upper end of an inclined plate 29 is disposed close to the peripheries of wheels 21 slightly above the horizontal radii of the wheels, the lower end of the plate terminating just above the wheels 12 near the vertical radii of the latter. Shaft 26 is driven by shaft [0 through gears 30 and 3|, the ratio being equal to the number of magtheir lower ends in which extend pins 50 secured to the levers 34. Thus, the members 46 and the pins 50 serve to limit the downward movement of the levers 34 under the influence of springs 42.

The welding wheels 32' are preferably made of a good conductor of electricity, such as copper, and adjacent each wheel there is located a disc of carbon 52 or other material suitable forserving as a brush to transmit current to the adjacent welding wheel. The brush discs 52 are urged into contact with the welding wheels 32 by means of springs 54. Suitable bushings B of insulating material are provided between the arms 34 and the shafts 36, on the one hand, and the welding wheels 32 and the brush discs 52,.on the other hand, so as to prevent transmission of current to the arm 34. Each of the brush discs 52 is connected in a suitable manner to a conductor 58 which is connected to one terminal of a suitable transformer 60.

Disposed beneath the feeding wheels I2 and the welding wheels 32 is a bed plate 62 provided with a slot 64 extending for a short distance on either side of the vertical center line of the feeding drums, and with a slot 66 disposed to one side thereof.

A shaft 68 is rotatably mounted in a frame 14 which serves to support the bed 62. A plurality of lower welding wheels 16 are mounted on the shaft 68. The periphery of each wheel is formed with a plurality of projections 18. Also mounted on the shaft 68 is a slip-ring 80 which cooperates with a brush connected by means of a conductor 84 with the other terminal of transformer 60.

Rotatably mounted in the frame 14 is a jack shaft 86 which carries a plurality of sprocket wheels. One of these wheels is driven by an electric motor 81 through a chain 88. Another sprocket on shaft 86 drives a chain which engages a sprocket on a second jack shaft 90. This shaft carries a sprocket which drives a chain 9| which engages a sprocket 02 secured to shaft 88. A gear 33 is mounted on shaft I58 and meshes with gear 3I on shaft I0. The transmission ratio between shafts I0 and 68 is equal to the number of magnets I4 on each wheel I2 divided by the number of raised portions 18 in each welding wheel 18. i

Secured to the bed 62 in alignment with the slot 66 therein is a standard 98 which carries a pair of feed rollers I 00 and I02. The bearings for rollers I00 are. vertically displaceable in the standard 00 and are urged downwardly by means of a spring the tension of which may be adjusted by means of a setscrew I 04, while the bearings for the roller I02 are fixed. Roller I02 is driven by a suitable chain or belt drive I06 from the shaft 86 and a pair of gears I08 and I I0 are provided for transmitting rotary motion from the roller I02 to the roller I00.

A plurality of permanent or electro-magnets II2 are supported from a channel II4 by means of arms 6. These magnets II2 extend into the slots 84 in the bed '02 in alignment with the feeding wheels'l2. Each magnet II2 produces a magnetic pull substantially equal to that produced by each of the magnets I 4.

The operation of the above describeddevice is as follows: I

A plurality of wires I I0. pro-cut to the correct length to form the transverse wires of the fabric, are placed in the feed hopper 20. Due to the inclination of the bottom 22 of the hopper these wires tend to slide or roll downwardly, but the plates 23 assure that the wires lie in a single layer at the lower end of the bottom 22. One wire at a time drops into. the space between the end of the different welds.

4 bottom 22, the shoulder 25 and the peripheries of wheels 21, where it remains until, during rotation of the wheels, it drops into the notches 2|. Inasmuch the notches in the several wheels are progressively staggered, the wire is disposed at an angle to the shaft 28, and in this position is carried around by the rotation of the wheels through an angle of a little less than whereupon it leaves the notches under the influence of both gravity and centrifugal force, and falls on the inclined plate 29. It slides or rolls down this plate, still at an angle, and is deposited across the feed wheels I2 to which it is held by means of the magnets I4. The rotation of wheels 21 is so timed with respect to the rotation of wheels I2,,

that a wire is deposited thereon just as a magnet I4 is passing below the end of plate29.

The wire II8, held in position at the ends of the magnets I4, is carried around by the rotation of the drum. At the same time a plurality of strands of wire I20 are fed in the direction of the arrow I22 along the bed 62 by means of the feed rollers I00 and I02. As the transverse wire H0 is carried around by the feeding wheels I2, it is brought into contact with strands I20, at the same time that a projection 18 on a welding Wheel 16 contacts a strand so as to force the transverse wire I i8 and the strand I20 into pressure contact with each other between the upper and lower weldingwheels. The pressure exerted between each pair of welding wheels can be adjusted as desired by the spring adjustment 43 which is also used to properly set the machine to accommodate the different wire sizes used to make fabrics of different weights and strength.

However, due to the fact that the transverse wire is maintained at an angle with respect to the axis of the welding wheels, due to the staggered relationship of the magnets I4, it will be pressed between the different pairs of upper and lower welding wheels successively. As the wires are pressed between each pair of welding wheels, the current flows from one wheel to the other through the wires to effect an electric weld. Inasmuch as the welds between the transverse wire and the several strands I20 take place successively, the entire current output of the transformer is available for each weld and there is no danger of unequal distribution of the current between Consequently, welds of a uniform nature are obtained.

' The magnets II2 serve to counteract the attraction of the magnets I4 and consequently serve to strip the transverse wires from the feeding wheels, thus eliminating any tendency for the transverse wires and ,the strands I 20, to which they are now welded, from being pulled upwardly away from the bed 62.

Inasmuch as the bearings 'carrying the feed roller I00 are vertically displaceable, this roller may move upwardly a slight distance in order to permit the cross wires I I8 to pass thereunder.

Instead of having the transverse wires retained at an angle on the carrier wheels, they may be held thereon parallel to its axis of rotation, while the pairs of the upper and lower welding wheels are offset so that only one pair engages the wires to be welded at a time. Such an arrangement is shown in Fig. 4. The upper welding wheels 32a and the brush discs 52a are rotationally mounted on forked arms 34a which are pivoted at 38a to a support 40. The arms 34a as shown are all of the same length, but the several pivot points 380 are offset with respect to each other and with the result that the several welding wheels 22a are likewise offset. The lower welding wheels, corresponding to wheels Hi in Figs. 1 and 2,'are also offset by a similar amount. Consequently, the different pairs of welding wheels will engage the wires to be welded at successive instants, whereby no two welds are made at the same instant and consequently the entire output of the transformer is available for each weld.

, Obviously, if it is desired to use a separate transformer for each pair of welding wheels, the magnets ll in Fig. 2 may be in alignment on the difl'erent wheels I! so that-the transverse wires are held parallel to the axis of rotation. In any case, the strands I20 may be fed continuously and it is not necessary to interrupt their movement along the bed while the welding is taking place. This not only results in a more rapid fabrication but eliminates mechanism which would otherwise be required to start and stop thei'eed.

While I have shown and described several embodiments of my invention it is to be understood that this has been done for the purpose of illustration only and that the scope of my invention is not to be limited thereby, but is to be determined irom the appended claims.

What is claimed:

1. That improvement in the art of manufactinuously and simultaneously moving a plurality of wire strands, successively placing transverse wires across said strands, and electrically welding the transverse wires in succession by successively welding each transverse wire to each of the difl'erent wire strands.

2.- That improvement in the art of manutacturing welded wire fabric which includes continu- 6 v cessively at. the different welding stations, and electrically welding each wire successively to the different wire strands during said continuous movement.

3. That improvement in the art of manufacturing welded wire fabric which includes continuously feeding a plurality of wire strands to a plurality oi welding stations arranged in progresslvely staggered relationship, successively placing transverse wires across said strands at substantially right angles thereto whereby the turing welded wire fabric which includes conously feeding a plurality of, wire strands toa plurality 01' welding stations arranged side by side, successively placing transverse wires across said strands at an angle to said strands difiering from 90 whereby the points of contact between each transverse wire and the strands arrive sucdie of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name I Date 033,214 Perry Sept. 19, 1899' 40 1,911,541 .Wickwir'e May so, 1933 points 01 contact between each transverse wire andthe strands arrive successively at the staggered welding stations, and electrically welding the wires in succession by welding each wire successively to each of the different wire strands during said continuous movement.

4. That improvement in the art of manufacturing welded wire fabric which includes continuously moving a plurality of wire strands between pairs ofelectric welding wheels, the peripheries of which are normally spaced apart, successively placing transverse wires across said strands, and bringing the peripheries oi. the wheels of the different pairs towards each other successively as each transverse wire comes between them so that one wheel contacts a strand and the other wheel ofthe pair contacts the transverse wire to thereby establish a circuit flow 01 electric current therethr'ough.

THEODORE HARRY WICKWIRE. Ja.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record inthe Roemer Dec. 4, 1945 

